Customer Reviews

The Masters and the Slaves: A Study in the Development of Brazilian Civilization

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Freyre's Masters and Slaves forms what is considered by many to be a trilogy of books published in the 1930's that revolutionized Brazilian Studies. The other are two books,[by other authors]... Freyre, the most popular and readable of the three, was a Pernambucano (from the sugar cane regions around Recife) and often blurs the distinction between Brazil as a whole and sugar-cane regions of Brazil. His methodology reflects his education, a US oriented 1930's anthropological perspective (he was a student of Franz Boas). This book in particular treats a very specific historical event: the development of a sugar-based agricultural economy in late 1500s, early 1600s in northeastern coastal Brazil. The book makes the generalization that Brazilian culture as a whole evolved from this cultural base, and places little importance on the parallel development of cattle-based cultures in the northeastern interior or the primitive jungle trading activities of Sao Paulo's city fathers (Raposo Tavares, etc).

Because of its focus on a very provincial-specific economy and culture, I would criticize Freyre for offering a very incomplete study of "Brazilian Civilization" in this book. In his defense, however, this book is too often read as a stand-alone study, when in fact Freyre intended for it to form a trilogy with another two books...The former traces how the rural sugar-based culture of early northeastern Brazil affected and was affected by the emergence of cities and urban life-patterns in places like Recife, Salvador, and Rio de Janeiro in the mid 1600s through the end of the 18th century. The latter book follows the study further, through the independence period and especially the twilight of the Empire, establishment of the Republic in the 188o's. If you read one, I recommend all three books to appreciate Freyre's thesis, that the original sugar-culture that developed and was discussed in Masters and Slaves had a lasting impact on Brazil's evolution as a whole, even in areas and regions where sugar cane and slavery were never established bases for economic development. This vision of Brazil remains incomplete without an understanding of Sao Paulo and the south, a region which today is arguably the strongest center of influence in the country. To complete that, I would recommend some books by [other authors]